Bed bugs are one of the most common issues that arise where beds are kept. If you manage a commercial sleeping space, such as a camp, hostel, or employee housing, the risk of a bed bug infestation is especially high.
In commercial residences, the turnover rate for each bed is particularly high. The many people using your beds could be coming from all different places and sleeping situations, which means they could be unknowingly putting your facility at risk of a bed bug infestation. And even long-term sleep arrangements are at risk of hosting bed bugs.
Luckily, there are a few key ways you can help to prevent a bed bug infestation or even reduce the impact of a current bed bug outbreak. Bed bugs thrive in a variety of settings, but one of the most common places for them to live is the mattress. Therefore, a bed bug mattress cover is a crucial piece of equipment for anyone wanting to effectively protect their mattress from bed bugs.
What Is a Bed Bug Mattress Cover?
A bed bug mattress cover is exactly what it sounds like: an impermeable layer that is designed to cover a mattress without any leftover space inside. This type of cover can help protect from bed bugs by:
- Preventing new bed bugs from accessing the mattress
- Stopping existing bed bugs from biting anyone or laying eggs anywhere else
At first, this product may seem like the perfect answer to any and all of your bed bug problems. Pests brought in from other sources won’t be able to start an infestation inside the mattress, and any insects already present in the mattress will be cut off from their food source and killed. However, the nature of bed bugs and bed bug infestations makes this situation a bit more complicated.
Will My Mattress Encasement Prevent Bed Bugs?
As long as you invest in a high-quality mattress cover that’s made to be impenetrable by insects, you shouldn’t find any bed bugs inside your mattress after you encase it. However, an unfortunate truth about bed bugs is that they don’t just live inside mattresses.
Bed bugs can burrow deep into a variety of other items typically found in bedrooms and living rooms. These include things like pillows, bed frames, upholstery, and carpets. For that reason, if your mattress encasement is your only protection against a bed bug infestation, you may still be greatly at risk. And that risk only increases if your commercial sleeping spaces have high guest turnover.
The only way to adequately protect a sleeping area from bed bugs is to invest in entirely bed-bug-repellant furniture. This means having a heavy-duty bed, mattress, and pillow that are all designed specifically to keep bed bugs out. Luckily, ESS Universal’s beds and bed accessories are created to do just that while also holding up against heavy wear for many years with their strong, durable construction.
Will My Mattress Cover Get Rid of Bed Bugs?
Some people use mattress encasements to help get rid of a current bed bug infestation. The idea here is that encasing your bed bugs in your mattress cover and preventing them from getting out means that all you’ll have to do is wait a while before later removing their husks from your mattress.
Here’s the bad news: bed bugs are some of the most patient insects out there. If they are unable to access a mammal to feed from, they can lay in a state of dormancy for up to a year and a half. If you remove your mattress cover to wash or replace it at any point during that period, the bed bugs can escape and continue their residency in your home.
Is a Bed Bug Mattress Cover Worth It?
If a bed bug mattress encasement isn’t a sure way to kill or prevent bed bugs, is it even worth having? When used in tandem with other bedding and bed accessories that are designed to repel bed bugs, a mattress cover can be very effective. However, if your mattress cover is your only piece of protection against bed bugs, you may still end up with an infestation.
ESS Universal manufactures and supplies high-quality, cost-effective commercial grade beds, mattresses, and furniture to camps, hostels, shelters, dorms and more. View our entire line of furniture products including our popular waterproof foam mattress for institutional use, single metal bed frames, single over single bunk beds, single over double bunk beds, and triple bunk beds. Download our catalog for detailed information on our complete product line.
